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Concept artwork shows that Princess Peach's cat form was originally going to incorporate her brooch. It also shows that the Cat forms of characters would have standard gloves on their hands rather than cat paw gloves.

The Double Cherry item wasn't planned to be in the game originally. It came into being from a mistake that a developer made by putting two controllable Marios in the game by accident. The staff thought it was a good idea, so they decided to put it in the game.[1]

Princess Peach was originally going to be the one kidnapped by Bowser like in previous Super Mario games, but this was changed by Yoshiaki Koizumi, who wanted a female character playable in the game.[2]

Collecting coins would have not given the player points, while jumping on enemies did.

The panels in the bonus room from Really Rolling Hills had different colors. The Mario button that contains a stamp was not in the early level. The area where the third Green Star is found did not have a Rectangular ? Block. This level also contained standard Goombas in the outdoor area.

Bullet Bill Base had normal trees, later replaced by beanpoles. Also, the sky background was lighter, which was later replaced by a darker one.

The Goal Pole at the end of a course did not have a golden flag when the player reaches the top. A small star, however, appeared and moved off-screen in its place. Hitting the top would grant the players one Extra Life as well as points, while in the final version players only earns points; this was changed to the way it is in the final version by the release of the second trailer.

Captain Toad's character icon is different; it features him without his adventure wear. Also, it has a blue background, instead of brown like the final version. The vest is also blue in the picture, just like Toad himself.

There are no instances where there are instructions on how to play the game.

Mario and Luigi's voice clips are reused from Super Mario Galaxy in the trailer and demo. In the final version, however, they have completely new voice clips. The other characters would have also reused voice clips from previous games.

The Ground Pound originally featured a small shockwave effect that appears when the player hits the ground; this was removed in the final version.[3]

The sound effect that plays when the remaining time is added to the total score is different.

The sound that plays when collecting a Green Star is the same as the one that plays when collecting a Star Medal, reused from Super Mario 3D Land.

When playing with multiple players the backup items collected by others are present beneath the primary one rather than beside it.

During the trailer and demo, the power-up sound effect used when collecting a Super Bell is the same as when collecting any other standard power-up, reused from Super Mario 3D Land, but with a small added bell jingle. In the final version, the power-up is given a different sound clip, but still contains the old one. The Fire Flower also reuses the standard sound effect from Super Mario 3D Land.

The characters wouldn't flash multiple colors when they obtained the Super Star Power-Up as seen in the first Trailer. However they still had the trail effect from the final game.

In Really Rolling Hills, one of the ? Blocks turned into a Coin Box; in the final version, only Coin Blocks turn into Coin Boxes.[4]

Princess Peach's main technique was originally going to be fluttering, like Luigi, but was changed to her floating using her skirt, just like in Super Mario Bros. 2.

In the demo version of Really Rolling Hills, the first ? Block in the level holds a Super Bell, while the hidden block above it holds a 1-up Mushroom. In the final game, the first block holds a coin, and the hidden block holds a Super Bell.

Whenever Mario transformed into Cat Mario, he would say "Nya Nya", which is Japanese for "meow". In the final version, this was changed to "Meow meow" instead. Also, the sound he makes when he scratched was different.

A Banquet with Hisstocrat didn't have any Bowser fireworks in it. The item box was also repositioned in the final version, being against a small wall in the final whereas in the demo it is in the center of that area.

Hisstocrat's brooch was originally green. It was changed to blue by the time the third trailer was released, as it is in the final product. His skin also appears more blue and, along with his minions, is visibly scaled in the final version, being a solid purple in the original trailer and demo.

The characters did not have angry expressions on their faces when they fought a boss.

The Color Block room in the trailer had two Green Stars. Not only did it look identical to the Color Block room in Really Rolling Hills (suggesting that the third Green Star may not have existed by then, and that the trailer may have been made before the demo), but no level in the final version has exactly two Green Stars.

In Plessie's Plunging Falls, the first Green Star was on top of the waterfall staircase. In the final version, the first Green Star was moved to the boost lift, and a 1-Up Mushroom is on top of the waterfall staircase. This level also had more Splounders.

As seen in the trailer, Captain Toad Goes Forth originally had less Biddybuds, having two red ones as well as three multicolored ones surrounding the fourth Green Star, rather than three of multiple colors near the rising platform and five surrounding the Green Star.

In Clear Pipe Cruise, the exit of the coin heaven area was at the bottom of the hill before the first key coin. In the final version, the exit is at the top of the hill. Also, one Clear Pipe originally ended with the player jumping out and going backwards, while in the final version, the Clear Pipe ends at a cloud platform with coins.

The Prima Games guide for this game contains a screenshot of the game's intro which appears to be taken from an earlier build. Differences from the released game include the lack of the motion blur effect for Bowser's roaring, a different nighttime sky background and lighting, and the lack of purple smoke over Bowser's distorted body in the Clear Pipe.[8]

Found in the files of Super Mario 3D World are two icons depicting an orange-colored Mario that are similar to the character icons.[9] It is unknown what these would have been used for, but it is possible that they would have served a similar purpose to the Super Guide in New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Donkey Kong Country Returns. In addition to this, there is a hand icon,[9] most likely planned for a fifth player to control an invisible hand, similar to the Boost Mode of New Super Mario Bros. U. The final version has a similar feature, but it is used while controlling a character, making the icon useless.